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Cities told to stop `whining'

OTTAWA–Municipal leaders upset at the lack of federal funding for towns and cities should stop "whining" and "do their job," federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty says.

Faced with a new study that shows urban infrastructure is "near collapse," Flaherty sidestepped responsibility yesterday, noting "we're not in the pothole business in the government of Canada."

Flaherty suggested that some cities in the Greater Toronto Area are themselves to blame for the ballooning costs to repair aging assets like bridges and roads.

"We have infrastructure challenges. One of the realities in an area of high growth like the GTA – some of the municipalities did not keep up with their infrastructure and did not establish adequate reserve funds. That's their job as a government," Flaherty told reporters.

The Federation of Canadian Municipalities released a study this week warning that much of the nation's municipal infrastructure is "on the brink of failure" and will cost $123 billion to upgrade, money cities say they don't have.

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But Flaherty said the federal government has established the largest infrastructure fund "in modern times" – worth $33 billion – and he urged municipal leaders to work with the provinces to gain access to the cash. "Let's get on with the job and stop complaining about it and do their job," said Flaherty, the Tories' point man on GTA issues.

Flaherty cited federal commitment of almost $1 billion for the extension of the Spadina subway, $82 million for Mississauga's transit system and another $20 million to develop the inter-regional transit hub at the Kipling subway stop in Toronto's west end.

"These are realities. Rather than ... quite frankly, whining, they should access the money that's available. It's there. Get on with the job and get the job done," he said.

But NDP Leader Jack Layton said cities, like any industry, need ongoing investment to keep them running smoothly.

"In any well-tuned industrial operation you're taking care of that infrastructure, you're investing, and those at the top better start to understand it," Layton said.

Meanwhile, Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion yesterday established a special urban caucus to provide advice on municipal issues to party policy-makers and tapped several key GTA MPs to serve on it.

They include Alan Tonks (York South-Weston), former chair of Metro Council; Judy Sgro (York West), a former Toronto councillor; Senator Art Eggleton, a long-time Toronto mayor; and John Godfrey (Don Valley West), who served as cities minister in the former Liberal government.

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